GromReview

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Rebelmind takes on the Action RPG, how did they do?

By Ryan Bohmann

Action RPGs are nothing new in the land of PC Gaming. With mega-hits such as the Diablo series and Dungeon Siege, many developers have jumped onto the bandwagon. Developer Rebelmind and publisher CDV hope to capitalize on this by bringing Grom to the US. Mixing together the action elements of Diablo, a party system and the ability to pause like Balder's Gate, and the stealth element of games such as Counter Strike, Grom is certainly a unique game.

Grom, the protagonist of the game, is a Polish soldier who defends his homeland against the encroaching German Army during the beginning of World War II. While trying to escape the Nazis he is caught by the Red Army and sent to a labor camp. Escaping the camp, Grom makes his way to India with the desire to seek vengeance upon the Nazis for killing his family. While crossing the mountains, Grom dies in a horrific blizzard. A short time afterwards, a caravan which had lost its way in the mountains finds the body of Colonel Grom. A Lama traveling with the caravan brings Grom back to life and in the process removes the vengeance from his heart, which the gods then fill with peace. Grom then decides to stay in Tibet, where he is hired to protect caravans.

After this introduction, the player is thrown right into the game. The interface of Grom is reminiscent of Balder's Gate, yet it feels like a pure action RPG. Each character can be moved around by simply left clicking on the playfield, with a double left click telling the character to run. Multiple characters can also be selected using the left mouse button to select groups. The top left-hand corner of the game-screen consists of icons for each character in the player's party. Each icon can be left clicked to select the individual character, or right clicked to open up his or her backpack. The backpack consists of a character's basic inventory - weapons, food, medkits and so on. The player can also access both the map and documents through the backpack screen. Documents consist of character descriptions and stats, quest logs and item descriptions. Each step required to learn the interface is covered by the very slick tutorial, which is actually part of the game itself.

The most unique and, arguably, the most important part of the interface is the wheel menu. By holding down and moving the right mouse button on any area in the game screen, a menu will appear from which a player can choose between various combat related commands. Six commands make up the wheel menu. The top three set combat AI modes. Players can set their characters to either attack, defend or fire at will. The lower three set characters' positions - stand, lie down or crouch. Finally, the game can be paused at any time by pressing the space bar. During the time the game is paused a player can enter commands that will be executed as soon as the game is unpaused.

Combat in Grom is simple at first glance, but it soon becomes apparent that it is one of the most advanced tactical combat RPGs on the market today. Unlike other RPGs, it's impossible to run out in the middle of an enemy camp. In Grom the player must use the landscape and static objects to his or her advantage. The stealth aspect works much like many first person shooters. Each enemy has a line of sight and a hearing range. For example, if a player wants to sneak past a group of Nazi solders, the best bet will be to change each character's position to lie down. That way they will crawl and the enemy will have a much harder time seeing and hearing the characters. This plays a very important role due to your group often being massively outgunned.

Weapons also play a huge role. Unlike other RPGs, in Grom individual characters do not gain levels or experience points. Each character has a proficiency rating with each weapon. As a character uses a weapon, his or her proficiency in it increases and the weapon will do more damage when it is wielded. Switching between different weapons during battle is very important; each one has its own specific uses. For example, rifles perform well at long-range but fail miserably in short-range combat. Pistols, on the other hand, are great for a single target at close to medium-range. Also included are melee weapons such as swords, thrown weapons such as knives, and explosives like grenades and mines. Healing during combat can be done either by medkits or by throwing health stones - magical items that heal a small area.

Character interaction in towns is easy. Simply walk up to an NPC and left click to strike up a conversation. Unfortunately not all NPCs have something to say and sometimes it's hard to find anyone that wants to talk. When a character is talking with NPC's, the choices selected can influence the outcome of the conversation. For example, being nice to an NPC may get you results quicker, but threatening him may work even better.

One of the very unique and fun aspects of Grom is the bargaining system. When shopping, if the offer the trader has made is not acceptable, the player can choose to bargain with him or her. Choosing this brings up the card selection window. In this window, both the player and the NPC he or she is dealing with places a card. This card symbolizes a behavior or emotion. Depending on what cards are put out, the price will either go up or down. For example, if the shopkeeper puts out a threatening card, the player can in turn put out a card that symbolizes he will stand up to him. The number of cards each character can choose is determined by the quality of the trader. This is a pre-defined attribute with three levels - Poor, Average, and Good.

The story aspect of Grom consists of a somewhat linear path and a lot of combat. After a new task is received, which can be anything from exploring a new area or retrieving an artifact, new areas open on the map. Getting to these areas often requires traveling through various landscapes which involve fighting and the occasional puzzle. Once the desired area has been reached and the task completed, the team will receive a new goal that usually advances the main storyline. Finally, story segments are rendered by the game engine, with full voice acting and subtitles.

Graphically speaking, Grom is nothing amazing. Of all the graphical aspects, the painted backgrounds are the biggest eye-pleaser. Many of the backgrounds are simply stunning and this will be one of the first things a player will notice when entering a new area. Character models on the other hand look dated but are not extremely bad. The most noticeable downfall of character models comes in story segments, when the camera can often get up close to each character. Animation for characters is smooth, down to reloading guns and crawling along the ground. The game currently only supports 800x600 resolution and this may be a blessing to those with lower-end computers, but it also makes it extremely hard on the battlefield. Often I had to hold the zoom-out hotkey just to see enough of the area to be safe.

Music and Sound effects vary greatly. The music tracks are generally good but they can get repetitive. The sound effects, on the other hand, are outstanding. Everything from the gun-shots to using medkits has a unique sound. Grom also has full voice acting in story segments. Each character sounds unique and for the most part are well done. The few voices that do not fit well with the characters, however, really miss the mark. One example would be a monk who sounds like he should be surfing the waves in Florida. Unfortunately, Grom currently has no 3D sound support - battle scenes would be greatly enhanced if support was in place.

A few seemingly minor problems are surprisingly elevated into huge problems with Grom. The worst is the difficulty setting - or lack thereof. Grom is not for the weak-hearted; it's extremely hard. I often had to kill one enemy, save and repeat over and over until I got it right. A normal fight would often consist of ten or more loads to try the only plausible tactic over and over again hoping to get lucky and get that first shot out and win. That brings the second problem, Grom is based as much on skill as it is on luck. For example, a few of the close range guns are made to do extreme damage and can often kill a party member in 1 hit. While it would be the best bet to get rid of enemies before they get in-range, it's not always possible. So it all comes down to luck. Who fires first, you or the enemy? One other minor annoyance is the lack of auto attack. If a character ever has to go hand to hand with another enemy, be prepared to ruin your mouse. Often enemies run away from your party, making the chase a massive click-fest in the attempt to catch and kill them.

The Verdict

Overall Grom is a fun game. The difficulty prevented me from enjoying it as much as I would have liked to, but it still offered a unique and interesting environment. If you¿re someone who likes mindless monster bashing, Grom may not be for you. On the other hand, those who like to think will be perplexed by some of the fights in Grom. Backed by a solid story, and even various mini-games in towns, Grom will satisfy for many hours.